By Helen Harlan | Solving Sacramento
Passion, policy and opportunity intersected on the evening of March 13 when Atrium 916 and Black Artist Foundry held a creative economy meeting in the Russ Room on the upper floor of Solomon’s on K Street.
The event was held with the support of Civic Thread, Valley Vision’s We Prosper Together initiative, City of Sacramento and California Forward with the California Jobs First initiative.
“I used to come to these meetings before the pandemic,” said Faith J. McKinnie, executive director of Black Artist Foundry, prior to the event that was moderated by Atrium 916’s Executive Director Shira Lane. “Shira did this amazing thing of convening creatives. We’re talking about opportunities and solutions and meeting folks.”
Lane said one of the reasons for the event was to address an ongoing issue. “The creative economy has been not included in economic development plans for a long time,” she said before the discussion began. “It’s always been ignored.”
That was a sentiment echoed by Kiara Reed, executive director of Civic Thread, who defined the creative economy as “the dollars, the business, the jobs that are produced and impacted by creative people.” McKinnie praised Reed and Valley Vision’s work on We Prosper Together — a collaborative that centers community through its economic development work — for bringing creatives into the conversation.
A $50 stipend was provided to all attending artists through Valley Vision, a regional civic organization that funded the event and is the backbone of providing funding and support to We Prosper Together. “I think it was important to say, ‘Hey we value your ideas and you should be paid for them,” McKinnie said.
As doors opened at 6:30 p.m., over 60 attendees mingled, enjoyed drinks, shared Instagram handles and connected over ideas, policy change and grant opportunities. DJ Kiare Thompson spun records while Solomon’s served pastrami tacos.
An “Opportunity Table” sat in the middle of the room, covered in flyers and information on arts grants and teaching jobs. A packet detailing the upcoming 2nd annual California Arts and Culture Summit, to be held in mid-April at The Sofia, was also on hand. QR codes encouraging attendees to vote in a City of Sacramento Fiscal Year 2024/25 Budget Community Survey papered tables along the edges of the space. The city, facing a more than $66 million deficit, is asking residents for help in determining where to cut costs.
“I don’t think that people who aren’t in the arts realize how much the arts impact all aspects of life,” said Justina Martino, founder of Art Tonic, which provides grant writing support, project management and professional development educational opportunities. “Everywhere you look an artist has probably touched. I feel like often the arts are the first thing to get suggested for budget cuts.”
Jason Jong, Cultural and Creative Economy manager with the City of Sacramento and one of three panelists at the event, pointed to a recent Warner Brothers production filmed in Sacramento to emphasize just how much the creative sector contributes to the local economy and beyond. The Sacramento Film and Media Office released figures citing a total of $5.3 million spent locally, employing 172 local hires — many in film and media industries — and sourcing 35 local vendors over 16 days of filming.
Along with Jong, panelists Reed and Eliza Tudor, executive director of Nevada County Arts Council, discussed topics including tourism, increasing equity and diversity in the arts community, and how to change policy to better support local arts.
“Stay tuned, show up, be engaged,” Jong told the crowd.
During an open mic portion of the event, Jonathan Zeigler, an artist, winemaker and state worker in the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, said that art is often not included in the conversations that oversee a lot of the employment development programs around California.
“I think we need a lot more resources as creatives in Sacramento,” Zeigler said. “How does the activity at the ground level of having a nice mural, having a clean street, translate to having actual, not just revenue at the local level, but revenue regionally between states and even more so, internationally. These all connect.”
Filmmaker Jeff Fong, with the Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival, said he attended the event because he is a very big advocate for teaching arts to people in cities that aren’t art cities. “Getting into a space with other like-minded creatives is extremely important,” Fong said. “I always try to get myself to come to these things no matter what. They’re very valuable.”
The event wound down after 9 p.m. and many were left with the words shared by Richard Falcon during the panel. Falcon is a temporary city employee with the Office of Arts and Culture, an organizer with United Latinos. He’s also the founder and president of Teatro Nagual, a social justice-based theater company in Sacramento.
“Someone once told me ‘You want to be an artist, get political,’” Falcon said. “The tree you plant today is going to shade for seven generations to come.”
This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. Solving Sacramento is supported by funding from the James Irvine Foundation and the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.